On July 16, 2014, the United States announced another expansion of sanctions in response to events in southern and eastern Ukraine. The United States for the first time imposed sanctions against major Russian companies and banks…more

Orrick lawyers Pascal Agboyibor, Bruno Gay and Gabin Gabas authored the first "Overview of Central and West Africa," an outline of the electricity and oil & gas sector legislation in 14 francophone African countries, that has…more

Introduction -
On August 15, 2013, the Civil Rules Advisory Committee (hereinafter “the Committee”) began what is expected to be a six month period of open commentary on the proposed amendments to the Federal Rules of…more

Even in the summer months, the California legislature is busy changing the laws that affect the state’s employers. This summer, California’s governor signed into law two bills that should be of interest to all employers—one…more

We first heard about the SEC’s increased focus on high-frequency trading in June 2014 when the SEC announced its desire to promulgate new rules on high frequency trading to address the lack of transparency in dark pools and…more

Approximately 16 months after filing the largest chapter 9 bankruptcy in history, Detroit received approval November 7 of its chapter 9 plan of adjustment. Bankruptcy Judge Stephen Rhodes of the Eastern District of Michigan…more

We’ve written previously about how intellectual property owners can obtain both patent and trade secret protection in the same technology. A case out of the Federal Circuit illustrates that IP holders sometimes choose to assert…more

The SEC released its Fiscal Year 2013 Annual Report (the “Report”) to Congress on the Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Program on November 15, 2013. The Report analyzes the tips received over the last twelve months by the SEC’s Office…more

Update on Case Law Developments in English Restructuring
This client alert will focus on three of the key recent cases of the past six months, each of which features the use of English law restructuring tools for…more

Under the Affordable Care Act, employers subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act must provide a “Notice of Coverage Options” to each employee. The purpose of this Notice is to inform employees that they may obtain health…more

Imagine that you are the General Director of a company (the Russian equivalent of an American CEO), and your information security department finds out that an employee, who you have long suspected of industrial espionage, has…more

If your trade secrets get stolen in France, what protections would you have? Most U.S. trade secret lawyers don’t have occasion to consider trade secret laws outside the United States, but there’s a whole world beyond the…more

One would think that, under the “going and coming” rule, employers could never be liable for torts committed by their employees during the employees’ commutes. Think again. If employers require employees to use their cars or the…more

Last week, a New York federal judge struck another blow to prosecutorial efforts to secure insider trading convictions in tipper-tippee cases. As discussed in detail here, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of…more

Welcome to the Q4 2014 issue of Orrick Technology IPO Insights, a quarterly publication highlighting trends in U.S. information technology company IPOs.
We isolate technology companies in order to analyze and present…more

Giving and Receiving: Insuring Company-Sponsored Volunteerism:
This is the time of year when we are reminded of the importance of giving. Many companies not only donate generously to nonprofits and community programs, but…more

In an amicus brief filed earlier this month in Berman v. Neo@Ogilvy LCC, the SEC asked the Second Circuit to defer to the Commission and hold that individuals who report misconduct internally are covered by the anti-retaliation…more

The SEC announced last week that it has obtained yet another admission of wrongdoing in connection with an agreement to settle an SEC enforcement action. This time, Peter A. Jenson, the former COO of Harbinger Capital Partners…more

As widely reported, on February 26, 2014, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) released the proposed Tax Reform Act of 2014 (the "Camp Proposal"). In exchange for simplification of…more

On August 27, 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission unanimously voted to adopt a package of new and amended rules governing the registration, offering process, disclosure and reporting for SEC registered asset-backed…more

Located in more than 60 fields mainly in the Paris region and in the south west (Aquitaine Basin), French hydrocarbon deposits produced 790 tonnes of oil and 0.3 tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) of natural gas in 2013,…more

On April 9, 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that Hewlett-Packard had agreed to pay more than $108 million to settle Foreign Corrupt Practices Act actions brought by the SEC and the Department of Justice. …more

In Resolution No. 62 “on Liability of Members of a Company’s Governing Bodies” dated July 30, 2013 (the “Resolution”) the Russian Supreme Arbitrazh Court provided new interpretations of the Russian statutory rule that the chief…more

In response to Russia's actions relating to Crimea, the United States and the European Union have expanded their lists of sanctioned parties and their legal bases for broader sanctions. These sanctions are beginning to restrict…more

On February 4, 2015, the First Circuit affirmed the summary dismissal of a shareholder derivative suit, which brought Nevada state claims for breach of fiduciary duty, waste of corporate assets, unjust enrichment, and…more

As widely reported, on February 26, 2014, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) released the proposed Tax Reform Act of 2014 (the "Camp Proposal"). In exchange for simplification of…more

On December 10, 2013, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Securities and Exchange Commission (collectively, the…more

The Issues Concerning the Legitimacy of the Regulations -
At the end of a process started in 2010, after three public consultations on an equal number of proposals, on December 12, 2012 AGCOM (i.e. the Italian…more

From a birds-eye view, Cellular Accessories For Less, Inc. v. Trinitas, LLC appears to be a typical dispute between an employer and its former employee. However, a closer look reveals an issue new to the world of trade…more

In Helferich Patent Licensing LLC v. New York Times Co., 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 2047 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 10, 2015), the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ("CAFC") concluded that the judicially-created doctrine of patent…more

Introduction -
Managers of water and wastewater utilities face complex financial challenges. The purpose of this guidebook is to provide an overview of issues relating to the financing of water and wastewater projects in…more

On February 4, 2015, the Federal Circuit issued an opinion in In re Cuozzo Speed Technologies, LLC, No. 2014-1301, upholding a final decision of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) to invalidate claims of a patent…more

The IRS recently announced that severance payments are taxable wages under FICA, and thus employers who seek tax refunds on those payments will be denied. The IRS’s position reflects the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in…more

On October 10, 2014, the White House hosted a listening session regarding President Obama’s “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” Executive Order, one of many new laws imposing significant new requirements on federal contractors…more

On July 6, 2014, Judge Jed S. Rakoff, United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York, declined to extend the reaches of section 550(a) of the Bankruptcy Code abroad to permit the recovery of funds that were…more

On July 16, 2014, the United States announced another expansion of sanctions in response to events in southern and eastern Ukraine. The United States for the first time imposed sanctions against major Russian companies and banks…more

This is an update of our alert dated 5 December 2012. Since our prior alert, there have been certain legislation changes addressed below.
The public unified register of pledges of movable property (the Register) was…more

Update on Case Law Developments in English Restructuring
This client alert will focus on three of the key recent cases of the past six months, each of which features the use of English law restructuring tools for…more

In November 2008, Circuit City filed for bankruptcy protection. Circuit City had the same business model as Best Buy: selling electronic equipment in large retail stores. Other retailers with that business model are finding…more

The SEC this year has demonstrated its willingness to incentivize whistleblowers and companies to share information about misconduct and assist with the SEC’s investigations. To that end, the SEC issued its first Deferred…more

Recently, the Delaware Court of Chancery in Pfeiffer v. Leedle declined to dismiss a shareholder derivative action against a board for breach of fiduciary duty, where the directors allegedly approved stock options exceeding the…more

On March 31, 2014, Governor Cuomo signed into law legislation that provides for an extensive reform of the state's corporate tax regime (the "Act"), most notably for out-of-state corporations providing digital products to New…more

INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE -
This amicus curiae brief is filed on behalf of DISH Network L.L.C. (“DISH”) and EchoStar Technologies L.L.C. (“EchoStar”). Since its founding in the early 1980s, DISH has reinvented the…more

Ah, October: the time of crisp fall air, brightly colored leaves, and pumpkin spice-flavored everything. And, of course, the World Series quest that can unite a city—or, in the case of Orrick’s San Francisco and Washington, D.C…more

On May 13, 2014, a former employee of Nissan in Japan was arrested by the Economic Affairs Division of the Kanagawa Prefectural Police on suspicion of trade secret theft. The arrest was made under the trade secret provisions of…more

Patent assertion entities—‘‘PAEs’’ or, if you are in a bad mood, ‘‘patent trolls’’—have been around in one form or another for decades. In the past few years, however, their ranks have grown. According to a U.S. Government…more

In Mendiola v. CPS Security Solutions, Inc., issued on January 8, 2015, the California Supreme Court ruled that security guards are entitled to compensation for all on-call hours spent at their assigned worksites, even when they…more

Do you know which chemical ingredients create that complex smell in your favorite deodorant, cologne, or perfume? For years, the answer has been a resounding no. Historically, the consumer products industry has relied on trade…more

On December 10, 2012, in Veronese v. Lucasfilm Ltd., a California Court of Appeal overturned a Marin County jury’s verdict against Lucasfilm based on its finding that several errors in jury instructions prejudicially affected…more

Employers know all too well that their own employees are often the most likely people to misappropriate their confidential and proprietary information and their valuable trade secrets. Employers have plenty of weapons at their…more

As widely reported, on February 26, 2014, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) released the proposed Tax Reform Act of 2014 (the "Camp Proposal"). In exchange for simplification of…more

In the United States, patent applicants and their counsel owe a duty of candor and good faith to the Patent Office. This duty is breached when the applicant or its counsel knowingly fails to disclose material prior art…more

In This Issue:
- The Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Revising the Labor Contract Law of the People's Republic of China Released
- MOFCOM Solicits for Public Comments on the…more

Last week, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that lenders in syndicated credit facilities do not have standing to enforce the funding commitment that other lenders owe to the borrower in the absence of specific…more

On February 17, the Obama Administration announced a new U.S. export control policy for military and commercial Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ("UAVs"). The policy, the details of which have not been released, reportedly includes…more

Amendments to California’s pregnancy regulations became effective on December 30, 2012, creating many new responsibilities for employers. While employers should take note of all of the amended regulations, some of the most…more

On November 15, 2012, the Securities and Exchange Commission released its Fiscal Year 2012 Annual Report on the Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Program (the “Report”), the first full-year report issued since the enactment of…more

Today, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) announced the terms of a settlement with four of the Respondents in In the Matter of BDO China Dhaua CPA Co., Ltd. The four Respondents are the China…more

Asia Employment Law Update -
Labor Contract Law Amendments on Dispatch Employees Come Into Effect - Implementation Details Still Uncertain:
During July 2013, the Decision on Amending the Labor Contract Law of the…more

On December 31, 2014, the Court of Appeal for the Second District of California held in an unpublished opinion that employers are not required to relieve employees of all duty during rest periods mandated by California state…more

Last week, the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department announced a number of new regulations intended to make it more difficult to qualify for tax advantages associated with inversion transactions and reduce certain of…more

In the fiercely competitive world of professional sailing, every second matters. And, as with any sport, competitors look to gain any advantage they can by getting their hands on the latest equipment, fine-tuned to give them…more

On 15 September 2014, the Code Committee of the Takeover Panel issued Consultation Paper PCP 2014/2 (the “Consultation”). The Consultation suggested various changes to the Takeover Code (the “Code”) to deal with the treatment of…more

According to a recent initial determination by an Administrative Law Judge of the International Trade Commission, a purely revenue-driven NPE cannot prove the existence of a domestic industry by relying solely on the activities…more

As noted in a previous blog, in Police & Fire Retirement Systems of City of Detroit v. IndyMac MBS, Inc., 721 F.3d 95 (2d Cir. 2013), the Second Circuit held that tolling under American Pipe – which plaintiffs had often used to…more

When the Lehman Brothers group imploded in September 2008, the impact of events on the Lehman Brothers UK pension scheme (the "Scheme") was not seen as a key concern for anyone other than the members themselves. Yet as time…more

On August 27, 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission unanimously voted to adopt a package of new and amended rules governing the registration, offering process, disclosure and reporting for SEC registered asset-backed…more

On February 12, Orrick submitted written comments regarding proposed amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ("FRCP") intended to facilitate more meaningful discovery efforts and to reduce cost and delay in…more

Can trade secret owners secretly petition a court to seize property from a competitor that they suspect of stealing trade secrets? In the United States, the answer is: “Not yet.” This is one of the issues that Congress is…more

On July 6, 2014, Judge Jed S. Rakoff, United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York, declined to extend the reaches of section 550(a) of the Bankruptcy Code abroad to permit the recovery of funds that were…more

The new California paid sick leave law is now “in effect” and you are ramping up your HR and payroll team to get ready for July 1 when employees can start accruing sick leave under the law. But now that you’re digging into the…more

On December 10, 2013, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Securities and Exchange Commission (collectively, the…more

On March 10, 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") announced that issuers and underwriters of municipal securities may voluntarily report materially inaccurate statements made in offering documents regarding prior…more

The National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB”) General Counsel’s Office has again signaled its commitment to expanding the scope of the current test for joint employment. In a move that could have implications for a broad array…more

The new California paid sick leave law is now “in effect” and you are ramping up your HR and payroll team to get ready for July 1 when employees can start accruing sick leave under the law. But now that you’re digging into the…more

Welcome to the Q4 2014 issue of Orrick Technology IPO Insights, a quarterly publication highlighting trends in U.S. information technology company IPOs.
We isolate technology companies in order to analyze and present…more

The European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA“) published final technical advice on December 19 to the European Commission, and a consultation paper on the MiFID II Directive and the Markets in Financial Instruments…more

A New Tax on doing business in or through the UK -
The UK is on course to enact a new tax (the "DPT") with extraterritorial scope which will apply to profits arising on or after 1 April 2015 and will be applied at a rate…more

Recently, the German Federal Labor Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht “BAG”) rendered a decision which had been awaited with interest by German employers (BAG, April 25, 2013 – 8 AZR 287/08) with regard to information rights of…more

The Organisation pour l'Harmonisation en Afrique du Droit des Affaires ("OHADA"), which translates into English as the "Organisation for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa" is an exclusively business-related legal…more

On Wednesday, June 26, 2013, the United States Supreme Court (the "Court") issued two significant decisions relating to same-sex marriage, both of which will have far-reaching effects on the design and tax treatment of employee…more

On 19 December 2014, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published final technical advice (ESMA/2014/1569) to the European Commission and a consultation paper (ESMA/2014/1570) on the MiFID II Directive…more

On Jan. 10, 2013, Jan Philipp Albrecht, the European Parliament’s Rapporteur, presented his report on the European Commission’s proposals for a new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). With his recommendations, data…more

The Internet has given rise to information-based businesses that create value by accumulating pools of data captured from many sources. Indeed, the collection and analysis of vast amounts of consumer data has become the engine…more

On August 28, 2013, six federal agencies1 jointly re-proposed rules to implement the credit risk retention requirements of Section 15G of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), which was added by…more

On February 3, 2015, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission released a Risk Alert addressing cybersecurity issues at brokerage and advisory firms, along with suggestions to investors on ways they can protect themselves and…more

Following a defense verdict in the insider trading case brought against him by the SEC, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has not been sitting on the bench—but rather using his blog to stay on the offensive. Since the October…more

In the recent case of Game Retail Limited v Laws, the UK Employment Appeal Tribunal (or “EAT“) considered the fairness of an employee’s dismissal for offensive tweets. This is the first time this issue has been considered at EAT…more

On February 3, the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) published a Risk Alert that contains observations based on examinations of more than 100 broker-dealers and investment advisers…more

All Sums or Pro Rata: Did You Get the Coverage You Bought?
In recent decades, liabilities stemming from long-term bodily injury or property damage—as from exposure to asbestos or contamination of the environment—have…more

There are a number of reasons why executives choose to defer the payment of current compensation under a nonqualified deferred compensation plan. For example, some executives do not need the compensation to be paid currently,…more

On December 9, the Federal Reserve Board (the “Board”) released a proposed rule (the “Proposed Rule”) to establish risk-based capital surcharges for U.S. bank holding companies identified as “global systemically important…more

On March 10, 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") announced that issuers and underwriters of municipal securities may voluntarily report materially inaccurate statements made in offering documents regarding prior…more

The IRS recently announced that severance payments are taxable wages under FICA, and thus employers who seek tax refunds on those payments will be denied. The IRS’s position reflects the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in…more

On January 12, 2015, Vice Chancellor Laster of the Delaware Chancery Court granted the plaintiff’s motion for reargument and revived the breach of contract claims that the court had previously held to be untimely in Bear Stearns…more

On March 10, 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") announced that issuers and underwriters of municipal securities may voluntarily report materially inaccurate statements made in offering documents regarding prior…more

Last week, a New York federal judge struck another blow to prosecutorial efforts to secure insider trading convictions in tipper-tippee cases. As discussed in detail here, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of…more

In most states, carriers may void life insurance policies for lack of insurable interest at any point, even after the two-year contestability period prescribed by statute. This loophole allows insurers to continue collecting…more

Last week, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that lenders in syndicated credit facilities do not have standing to enforce the funding commitment that other lenders owe to the borrower in the absence of specific…more

Trade Secrets Watch previously outlined the benefits and potential risks of referring a case of trade secrets theft to the government for criminal prosecution. One of the most important downsides to consider is that the victim…more

Even if a potential Employer does not know that an applicant is unsuitable for the offered job from an objective point of view, compensation claims based on discrimination would not be granted.
The first comprehensive…more

Data protection law is on the rise. Courts as well as local authorities become increasingly sensitive to the misuse of any individual’s personal data that applicable statutory provisions in Germany, such as the Federal Data…more

Orrick lawyers Pascal Agboyibor, Bruno Gay and Gabin Gabas authored the first "Overview of Central and West Africa," an outline of the electricity and oil & gas sector legislation in 14 francophone African countries, that has…more

Will shareholder litigation survive the abandonment of the fraud-on-the-market presumption of reliance? After the Supreme Court’s announcement that it will be considering the presumption in Halliburton Co. v. Erica P. John…more

Encryption Flaw "Heartbleed" Creates Data Risk: How Insurance Can Stanch the Bleeding -
In early April, news broke of an encryption flaw named “Heartbleed” that exposed companies to data breaches for over two and one half…more

This is an update of our alert dated 5 December 2012. Since our prior alert, there have been certain legislation changes addressed below.
The public unified register of pledges of movable property (the Register) was…more

Orrick lawyers Pascal Agboyibor, Bruno Gay and Gabin Gabas authored the first "Overview of Central and West Africa," an outline of the electricity and oil & gas sector legislation in 14 francophone African countries, that has…more

A New Tax on doing business in or through the UK -
The UK is on course to enact a new tax (the "DPT") with extraterritorial scope which will apply to profits arising on or after 1 April 2015 and will be applied at a rate…more

In a long awaited 9-0 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held that employers are not required to compensate employees for time spent waiting for and undergoing security screenings (aka bag checks) under the Fair Labor Standards…more

Sportswear-inspired designs, bold prints, and gingham aren’t the only things trending for Spring 2015 in the fashion world. Judging from a recent wave of lawsuits, wage and hour class actions are trending as well. Over the past…more

Questions Presented:
1. In 1969, this Court held in Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC, 395 U.S. 367 (1969), that the First Amendment permits the government to restrict the speech of broadcasters in ways that this Court…more

Observers following the legal issues surrounding the prosecution of David Nosal will be watching closely in 2015 as the former Korn Ferry executive returns to the Ninth Circuit to appeal his 2013 conviction on three counts of…more

Orrick and Clean Energy Pipeline have launched a series of reports dedicated to exploring investment opportunities and challenges in the U.S. renewable energy sector. In this first issue, we analyze the exciting investment…more

Starting on March 26, 2013, there will be an important new tool available to help trademark owners combat unauthorized uses of their trademarks in domain names as more than 1,000 new generic top-level domains (“gTLDs”) prepare…more

Update on Case Law Developments in English Restructuring
This client alert will focus on three of the key recent cases of the past six months, each of which features the use of English law restructuring tools for…more

You wake on a Tuesday morning expecting to have an average day at work. You are skimming through the emails that came in while you were asleep, when you notice an email from one of your employees. He is not only giving his…more

One of the biggest challenges the cyber-security field faces today—aside from outright hacking—is the fact that employees’ data is increasingly portable. Data portability can be a major boon for employers. For instance, it may…more

On August 27, 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission unanimously voted to adopt a package of new and amended rules governing the registration, offering process, disclosure and reporting for SEC registered asset-backed…more

As we look back on a busy fourth quarter 2012 that saw a flurry of deal closings in the final weeks of the year for core and value-added commercial properties in the US, an active transaction pipeline is already ramping up for…more

The enactment of Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) and its implementation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) has ushered in a new era of…more

The gyms are packed, the diet cookbooks are flying off the shelves, and smokers are struggling to kick the habit. It’s the resolution season, and surveys say half of the top 10 most popular new year’s goals aim for better…more

The clock will strike on the first self-report deadline under the SEC’s Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation Initiative (the “MCDC Initiative”) at 12:00 a.m. EST on September 10, 2014. Under the MCDC Initiative,…more

As we have previously reported, practitioners and judges alike have recently been questioning the SEC’s increased use of administrative proceedings. Defense lawyers complain that administrative proceedings, which have…more

"INVEST" - Changes in the Government backed program for venture funding -
Last year the German Government introduced a program to support venture seed and pre-seed investments into innovative start-ups from private…more

On February 26, the Federal Reserve Board extended until April 3 the comment period for its proposed rule to implement capital surcharges for the largest, most systemically important U.S. bank holding companies…more

A federal court’s recent dismissal of Securities Exchange Act claims against the auditor of a Chinese company prompted us to examine the state of recent U.S. civil securities litigation against accounting firms that audited…more

This is an update of our alert dated 5 December 2012. Since our prior alert, there have been certain legislation changes addressed below.
The public unified register of pledges of movable property (the Register) was…more

Asia Employment Law Update -
Labor Contract Law Amendments on Dispatch Employees Come Into Effect - Implementation Details Still Uncertain:
During July 2013, the Decision on Amending the Labor Contract Law of the…more

Judge James M. Peck issued an important opinion in the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy late last month. The opinion protects a non-debtor counterparty's right to rely on a contractually agreed methodology for damages calculations…more

In a long-awaited opinion issued on August 15 in Parkcentral v. Porsche, the Second Circuit limited the extraterritorial reach of the U.S. securities laws, affirming the dismissal of securities claims brought by parties to swap…more

Last week, a New York federal judge struck another blow to prosecutorial efforts to secure insider trading convictions in tipper-tippee cases. As discussed in detail here, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of…more

A new law exposes California businesses to potential liability for claims by temporary workers. On September 28, 2014, Governor Brown signed into law AB 1897, which created California Labor Code § 2810.3. The new law requires…more

Just over one year ago, we noted the continued and vibrant debate among state and federal courts over whether the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“UTSA”) preempts other claims based on the misappropriation of information when that…more

In 2006, Bear Stearns agreed to a $250 million “neither admit nor deny” settlement with the SEC to settle charges that it facilitated late trading and deceptive market timing by its hedge fund customers…more

This past summer, we reported on an emergency petition to Justice Clarence Thomas of the United States Supreme Court to stay a Florida Supreme Court’s decision permitting disclosure of documents submitted under seal during a…more

On November 24, Justice Marcy Friedman of the Supreme Court for the State of New York partially dismissed U.S. Bank’s suit against sponsor Morgan Stanley Mortgage Capital and originator Greenpoint Mortgage Funding in connection…more

With the increasing prominence of social media, employers have been rightfully concerned about the impact of employees’ out-of-work statements on the work place—particularly when it comes to the reputation of the employer. In…more

Data breaches may be nothing new, but they are certainly evolving into bigger and more notorious infractions. While the data breaches of yesterday may have involved accidental disclosure or disgruntled former employees, the data…more

The European Union appears poised to enact a sweeping new legal regime that would harmonize trade secrets law across all member states.
It’s been a year since we wrote about a new EU proposal to regulate trade secret…more

Last week, the California Supreme Court issued its decision in Peabody v. Time Warner Cable, Inc., deciding that employers may not apply commission payments to earlier pay periods for the purposes of establishing that an…more

A Rhode Island graduate student has filed a lawsuit against a textile company, alleging that it discriminated against her because she used medical marijuana. The complaint, filed by the local ACLU chapter on behalf of University…more

We first heard about the SEC’s increased focus on high-frequency trading in June 2014 when the SEC announced its desire to promulgate new rules on high frequency trading to address the lack of transparency in dark pools and…more

Like in other countries, the parties to an employment agreement in Germany are free to agree on a sabbatical – a defined period during which the employment relationship is suspended. The employee is released from his active…more

On August 8, 2014, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance (“OFCCP”) proposed new annual reporting requirements for federal contractors and subcontractors. The proposal requires additional pay information and will become…more

Introduction -
It is common for financial investors such as private equity funds and hedge funds to invest in unlisted securities of private companies (e.g., through the subscription of convertible debt instruments,…more

It should be obvious that if you want trade secret protection, you shouldn’t wave your purported trade secret around in public. Likewise, if you see someone openly disclosing your trade secret on television, you should probably…more

On August 22, 2014, the Texas Supreme Court ordered oral argument in In re: Magnum Hunter Resources Corp., a case concerning the discoverability of third-party trade secrets documents in civil cases. When should such documents…more

On August 28, 2013, six federal agencies1 jointly re-proposed rules to implement the credit risk retention requirements of Section 15G of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), which was added by…more

On April 30, 2014, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit against a private college, charging for the second time in two months that an employer’s severance agreement was unlawful. The EEOC alleged that…more

INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE -
This amicus curiae brief is filed on behalf of DISH Network L.L.C. (“DISH”) and EchoStar Technologies L.L.C. (“EchoStar”). Since its founding in the early 1980s, DISH has reinvented the…more

On Thursday, June 12, 2014, Justice Anthony Kennedy delivered an opinion for a unanimous United States Supreme Court in POM Wonderful LLC v. The Coca-Cola Co., No. 12-761, in which the Court ruled that the Federal Food, Drug,…more

Even if a potential Employer does not know that an applicant is unsuitable for the offered job from an objective point of view, compensation claims based on discrimination would not be granted.
The first comprehensive…more

On October 10, 2014, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a decision awarding nearly $76 million in damages against a seller’s financial advisor. In an earlier March 7, 2014 opinion in the case, In re Rural/Metro Corp…more

On February 4, 2015, the Federal Circuit issued an opinion in In re Cuozzo Speed Technologies, LLC, No. 2014-1301, upholding a final decision of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) to invalidate claims of a patent…more

Italy’s project finance rules have an awkward legal foundation. If investors and sponsors can gain the benefit of project bond technology, radical reforms are needed -
The recent placement of project bonds to finance…more

Giving and Receiving: Insuring Company-Sponsored Volunteerism:
This is the time of year when we are reminded of the importance of giving. Many companies not only donate generously to nonprofits and community programs, but…more

On March 31, 2014, Governor Cuomo signed into law legislation that provides for an extensive reform of the state's corporate tax regime (the "Act"), most notably for out-of-state corporations providing digital products to New…more

Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, California employers hoped this day would come. In a predictable result, the California Supreme Court today acknowledged that class action…more

This article focuses on the banking sector crisis which engulfed the Nigerian financial sector from 2008 to 2011, and the steps taken by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in restoring financial stability. We discuss the impact…more

According to a recent initial determination by an Administrative Law Judge of the International Trade Commission, a purely revenue-driven NPE cannot prove the existence of a domestic industry by relying solely on the activities…more

On January 12, 2015, Vice Chancellor Laster of the Delaware Chancery Court granted the plaintiff’s motion for reargument and revived the breach of contract claims that the court had previously held to be untimely in Bear Stearns…more

On July 24, 2013, the European Commission issued legislative proposals to update and complement the current EU legal framework on payment services to develop further an EU-wide single market by promoting more competition,…more

In Resolution No. 62 “on Liability of Members of a Company’s Governing Bodies” dated July 30, 2013 (the “Resolution”) the Russian Supreme Arbitrazh Court provided new interpretations of the Russian statutory rule that the chief…more

How do you use the law to keep something unlawful a secret? This and related questions arise as more states legalize marijuana for medical use, recreational use, or both. As an illicit industry emerges from the shadows,…more

On December 16, National Credit Union Administration filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against U.S. Bank N.A. and Bank of America N.A., in their capacity as trustees for 99…more

On February 28, 2008, Hanjuan Jin, a Chinese-born former software engineer for Motorola, arrived at Chicago O’Hare Airport en route to Beijing. During a random customs check, officials discovered that she had a one-way ticket…more

On Monday, January 12, 2015, President Obama appeared at the Federal Trade Commission to announce the administration’s blitz of cyber security and privacy legislative and public policy initiatives, which will be discussed in…more